Rail locking track structure



M. BOYER 3,356,299

Dec. 5, 1967 RAIL LOCKING TRACK STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 22,

b wx Y] I I I T INVENTOR I Marl/n Bayer ATTORNEY Dec. 5, 1967 BOYER 3,356,299

RAIL LOCKING TRACK STRUCTURE Filed Oct. 22, 1965 2 Shets-Sheet 2 Fig. 4

-INVENTOR Marl/n Boyer ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,356,299 RAIL LOCKING TRACK STRUCTURE Martin Boyer, Lowry, Minn. 56349 Filed Oct. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 501,578 13 Claims. (Cl. 238-265) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention is a structure for locking railroad tracks on a rail supporting plate, which plate is secured on the top of a concrete pillar sunk in the track bed, formed in situ therein. It eliminates the'conventional railroad tie, and when installed in place of existing railroad tracks, it uses the old tracks and ties as a pattern. Two holes of suitable depths are dug into the roadbed between each two adjacent ties, one closely inside of one track, the other closely inside of the other track, and filled With concrete and then a plate of this invention with spaced abutments for holding the track web therebetween is placed thereon while still soft so as to embed depending securing means in the concrete. Thereafter, the track is freed of its holding spikes and slid over onto the plate on the hardened cement pillar, and secured thereto by the hook lugs of this invention extending through holes in the plates, the hook lugs having lug legs extending over the track web and locked thereto by set screws through the lug legs onto the track web.

Another feature of this invention is its use for repairing or splicing broken tracks. In this case, a track supporting plate is secured on two slightly spaced apart wooden blocks suitably inserted in the road bed, and hooks inserted through the holes in the plate between the blocks, on both sides of the track web, and extending hook lugs are tightened to the track web by set screws therethrough.

This invention relates to rail locking track structure and has for an object to provide a track structure wherein a railroad track may be locked on a rail supporting plate.

A further object of this invention is to provide a rail web supporting and locking plate, wherein the rail is locked between upwardly struck bosses abutting opposite sidesof the rail placed therebetween at rail joints as well as alongthe length of the rail.

A further object of this invention is to provide a track construction wherein the ordinary ties are eliminated, along with all the maintenance work that is necessitated thereby, and whereinconcrete pillars formed in situ in holes in the road bed generally support rail web locking plates, each plate being locked in situ on the top of the concrete pillar by depending fingers struck down from the plate, or by other depending means, such as a rod through the plate, which fingers or depending means or both are embedded in the concrete pillar before it has solidified. A further object of this invention is to provide a rail web locking plate having rail locking bosses abutting the rail web in combination with a pair of spaced apart short tie blocks for use in positively holding a broken rail in place, even without the necessity of welding the broken rail.

A further object of this invention is to provide the rail locking and supporting plate with transverse slot means underlying the rail web and hooked lug means extending through said plate slot means to hook thereunder and abut the top of the rail web, with set screw means for increasing the pressure of the lugs on the rail web.

A further object of this invention is to provide a rail locking plate having spaced apart web abutting locking bosses with a transverse hooked lug receiving slot means, and to further provide such slot means by striking down fingers from the plate, and ribbing such fingers for embedding them in the as yet unsolidified concrete of a concrete pillar formed in situ in a suitably positioned hole.

A further object of this invention is to do away with rail ties, do away with rail spikes in general, do away with the old plates now used on the track, do away with almost all expanding and contacting of rails, to permit rails to be welded into one long rail as long as desired, to do away with the expense of ties, and of the shipping and labor on the ties, to provide substantially permanent track construction, with no maintenance except for weed or snow removal, to provide a substantially silent track, to provide a tamper proof rail lock to keep the track in position, eliminating surveying by using the old track as a pattern, to permit installation on an around-the-clock basis if need be to provide speedy installation, and thus provide a far more secure and lock track rail with substantially no labor maintenance costs.

A further object of this invention is to provide rail plates which not only support the rails, but also provide rail end joints, by securely gripping the rail webs on both sides, including a fish plate if present even without bolts except possibly at curves.

In brief, the invention is a track structure which eliminates the need for maintaining conventional ties, spikes, fish plates and other conventional rail supporting means, and instead uses a plurality of concrete pillars formed in situ in holes in the rail bed, and supporting a rail Web locking plate placed thereon while the concrete pillar is still unsolidified, the plate having downwardly struck fingers embedded in the still unsolidified concrete pillar, the slot provided by striking down the fingers acting to receive hooked lugs therethrough to hook under the plate and over the rail web, with set screws through the lugs for tightening them, the rail web setting between upwardly struck or spot welded bosses which abut and thus lock the rail web and rail in position. Furthermore, conven tional track construction may be readily converted to this system by placing a concrete pillar just inside of one track and the same distance outside of the other track between each pair of ties, with the plate thereon, then after the pillar has solidified, one hooked lug is placed in position on the side away from the track, then the track is merely skidded over and tilted to place the rail web under the lug in place, and dropped between the locking upstanding bosses, then the other lug is placed in position and set screws are then tightened through the lugs. A shim may be inserted, when necessary, between the rail web and the plate by loosening the lug set screws and raising the rail with a jack, then tightening the lug set screws. The upstanding bosses on the plate prevent the track from moving transversely, and with the lugs and their set screws, upward movement is prevented and the rails are securely locked in place even at the joints, eliminating the need for the old fish plates conventionally used in joining adjacent rail ends together. Thus, this invention not only acts as a tieless track support, but also locks the rails in position and thus provides a rail joint without conventional fish plates or bolts. The concrete pillar being formed in situ in suitable holes in the roadbed, the concrete pillar is practically immovable, with the plate and rail thereon, and thus provides a substantially silent rail support. It need be, only the upper bar of the conventional fish plate can be used as now is done, but this invention overcomes the rattling of the rail at its bottom, and the concrete pillar deadens the clatter and the noise in the rail joints when the train passes over the joints. While bolts may be desirable in the fish plate upper bar on curves on straightways, the bolts are not needed, for lugs and bosses securely hold the rail locked in position, even at the joints, and they cannot slip.

To form the pillars, each hole is bored between two existing ties, and concrete is poured there, preferably from a small flat car carrying a leveling arm so that each pillar is made of the same level, and the existing track in its old position provides a pattern for properly leveling the concrete pillar on which the plate is placed in proper position manually, with its depending fingers or rod embedded in the unsolidified concrete, a pair of suitably placed lug receiving recesses being suitably formed in the soft concrete.

The earth forms the binding tie between the rails and it never rots. The same holds true for the concrete pillars, they too become part of the earth and cannot rot. Expanding and contracting is taken care of natures way from the earth, always the same. The rails are not moved until the whole track is finished, then the old tie is sawed in two places and out they go for the last time including the rail spike. The flat car is just for leveling of the concrete pillars, also to press the plates in the right height corresponding to the old position on that the rails had before. A concrete mixer with a boring auger is on a separate fiat car, moved either by engine or Windlass (cable) when concrete mixer is empty, it is propelled by its own engine to the crossing; there is a trailer standing with a load of ready mixed concrete to be transferred into the main truck so it goes right along-no time wasted. If a train should come, the man operating the mixer is notified by telegraph through the rails so they will have plenty of time to go to a side track.

This invention is also used for repairing or splicing broken rails, even without welding the rails. In this case, a slightly wider plate is slid under the break in the rail, and then two short wooden blocks or short ties are pushed into the roadbed under the edges of the plate and somewhat spaced apart to provide a lug hook receiving slot and recess. The slot for the lugs is entirely struck out, and, in addition to the same bosses between which the rail is locked, spike holes are provided in the corners of the plate to cooperate with predrilled spike receiving holes in the blocks or ties to hold them against movement. The lug slots are also provided with right angle slots at their ends, spaced apart just the width of the rail web, and the lugs rounded at their hooking recesses, are inserted through the angle slots and then rotated ninety degrees to engage their hook recesses about the plate slot edge and project over the rail web, to which they are tightened by set screws held against loosening by lock nuts.

With the above and related objects in view, this invention consists in the details of construction and combination of parts, as will be more fully understood from the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view showing a conventional railroad construction being converted to the tieless rail locking construction of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a section on line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view on line 3--3 of FIG. 1, additionally showing the lug slots.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing this invention used for locking a broken rail in place.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged section on line 5--5 of FIG. 4, showing one of the two tie blocks used in the broken rail lock.

There is shown at a conventional track construction in the process of being converted to this invention showing rails 12 conventionally held by spikes 14 to conven tional ties 16. In this invention, pillars of concrete 18 are located between each adjacent pair of ties, just along the outer side of one rail and the same distance along the inner side of the other rail, so that the concrete pillars are the same distance apart as the standard gauge, assuming that the rails 12 are standard gauge apart. Obviously, the invention works with any gauge tracking, for the rails act as a pattern in placing the concrete pillars 18.

Each concrete pillar 13 is formed by boring a hole approximately three feet deep and one foot in diameter, and filling it with concrete. The sides and bottom of the bored hole serves as a form for the concrete, although if desired, the bored hole could be lined with a metal form.

The concrete may be poured from a supply of ready mixed concrete from a small flat car traveling over the rails. A leveling on arm each side of the car assures that each pillar will be at the same top level, and then the plate 20 is placed by hand in the concrete pillar and thus the top surface of the plates 20 will all be in the same plane, when the roadbed is at a zero grade.

Each plate 20 is rectangular, and provided to be placed with its longer dimension transversely of the roadbed. Two spaced depending ribbed fingers 22 are formed in the plate extending from adjacent its center along the longer dimension of the plate 20 by being struck downwardly from the plate and then ribbed, and thus provide slots 24 in the plate, which slots 24 extend just enough beyond the width of the rail web 26, when in position thereon, that lugs 28 and 30 may be placed therein to lock the rail web thereto.

Also, each plate 20 is provided with two pairs of bosses 32 and 34, one on each side of each lug slot, and each boss 32 is spaced from each boss 34 a distance just the width of the rail web, so that they abut the opposite sides of the rail web 26, and lock the rail web therebetween, reinforced by the lugs 28 and 30, as will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, these bosses 32 and 34 are struck upwardly from the material of the plate 20, but, if desired, they may be of separate material and spot welded in proper position.

The lugs 28 and 30 are somewhat different, as shown. The lug 28, against which the rail web 16 is to be abutted, is somewhat L-shaped, with its long leg 38 having a hook recess 40 as shown, of a size and shape as shown, to fit against, over and under the plate 20 at the end of the slot 24, and held thereagainst when the rail web 26 is abutted thereagainst as it is placed between the bosses 32 and 34. The short leg 42 of L-shaped lug 28 extends over and above the adjacent side of the rail web 26. A set screw 44 is threaded through the short leg 42 to screw down on the top of the rail web 26 and be held in such position by the lock nut 46.

The other lug 30 is somewhat J-shaped, with the I hook 48 depending through the adjacent slot 24, the end surface 50 of the lug 30 being at a slant so that, when in position, it locks down against the top edge of the adjacent rail web 26, its point 52 actually over and above the rail web 26. The stem 54 of J-shaped lug 30 is thinner at its end than it is adjacent the I hook 48, and is provided with a similar set screw 56 and lock nut 58. Appropriate recesses 60 and 62 are provided in the top of concrete pillars 13 by any conventional or suitable means for receiving the lug leg 38 and the J hook 48 as shown. These recesses may be pressed therein just before the plate 20 is placed on the pillar top While the concrete is still in plastic or unsolidied condition, and then reformed, if necessary, through the slots 24. Obviously, in reforming the recesses 60 and 62, some of the material may enter the slots 24 toward the center of the plate, but if so, this is unimportant. Or, a soft plug of easily deformable material may be used to keep the recesses in shape until the concrete has set, and then be removed through the slots 24 before the rail web 26 has been placed in position.

In addition to the ribbed fingers 22 embedded in the concrete pillar 18, a long headed rod 64, ribbed at 66, may be inserted through a countersunk hole 68, complementary to the shape of the rod head 69, provided in the plate 20 just between the depending ribbed fingers 22.

In operation, the pillars 18 are first formed in situ, described above, and the plates 20 are placed in position by hand, with the fingers 22 and rod 64 also embedded in the concrete pillar 18, and the recesses 60 and 62 are formed as set forth above. This is done on a long stretch of roadbed, without interfering seriously with traflic thereover. Then when the pillars 18 have set and attained proper strength, long stretches of rail 12 are unspiked and then moved over, after first inserting the abutting lugs 28, with the set screws 42 unthreaded so that their ends are withdrawn to within the short L legs. The rail 12 is tilted as it passes over the near bosses 34 so that its advancing rail web 26 slants down under the short L leg 42 of lug 28 to abut leg 38 and boss 32 and then the other rail web clears the bosses 34 and drops down to between the bosses 32 and 34, supported by the plate 20 and pillar 18, and substantially locks itself into position, with the track top on the rail 12 in proper level position. Then the other lug 30 is placed in position, its set screw 56 being similarly withdrawn to within the lug 30, permitting the I hook 48 to enter through slot 24 into recess 62. Then set screw 56 is tightened against plate 20, causing I hook 48 to extend under plate 20 and the point 52 to extend over the rail web 26 while the slanted surface 50 abuts and further locks the rail web 26 as shown. The set screw 52 of lug 38 is also tightened, but against the rail web 26, thus further locking the rail against upward movement, that rail being already locked against transverse movement in either direction by being sunk between the bosses 32 and 34. This locks the rails 12 so that fish plates are generally unnecessary, even at the joints between the rails, for, because of the bosses, the rail ends cannot move transversely, nor vertically because of lugs 28 and 38 although, if desired, on one bar of the fish plate may be left in position at the rail joints, being locked thereagainst by the ends of lug legs 42, and the bolts may be omitted, except possibly at curves.

The general principles of the plate also serve for splicing broken rails, previously broken, for, in general, the rails are held so immovable by this invention that they are much less likely to break. A somewhat wider plate 70, shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, is used for a broken rail. This plate 70 is placed under the broken rail on two spaced apart short wood blocks or ties 72, spaced apart and inserted under the edges of the plate 70 and transversely under the rail 12. Predrilled holes are provided in the blocks 72 to receive spikes 74 inserted through prepared holes 76 in the plate 70. The plate 70 is provided with similarly located bosses 78 to abut against the side edges of the rail web 26, there being four spikes 74, two for each block or tie 72.

Two lugs 80, substantially identical with lug 28, except for being partly rounded at their hook recesses 82, are provided for insertion through a long plate slot 83, which slot 83 is supplemented by right angular slot 84. The offset angular slot 84 permits the lug leg 86 to be inserted with the short L legs extending parallel to the direction of the rails, then they are rotated ninety degrees, causing the hook recesses 82 to abut and engage above and below the plate 70, while the long legs 90, with their withdrawn set screws 92 extend over the rail webs. The screws 92 are then tightened, and locked in place by lock nuts 94, thus holding the spliced rail immovably in position, the bosses 78 preventing transverse movement, while the lugs 80 prevent both transverse and upward movement.

Obviously, shims may be similarly inserted between the rail web and the plate 70 in a similar manner by loosening the set screws 92, lifting the rail with a jack, inserting the shim, and then tightening the set screws 92 and their lock washers 94.

The operation of this invention is apparent from the above description. It may be carried on continuously to convert a conventional track construction to the construction of this invention, track rails may be welded together of indefinite straight lengths, and then shifted, as a unit, during light rail traflic. The first conventionally secured rail may be temporarily angled a bit to connect the old rail construction to the new so that traflic may continue.

Although this invention has been described in considerable detail, such description is intended as being illustrative rather than limiting, since the invention may be variously embodied, and the scope of the invention is to be determined as claimed.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, what is claimed is:

1. A track structure comprising rail supports, each rail support consisting of a pillar of concrete formed in situ in a suitably positioned hole in the track roadbed, the greatest dimension of the pillar being its depth, a rail supporting plate placed on the concrete pillar before the concrete has solidified, said plate having depending means embedded in said concrete pillar, spaced apart rail stop means extending upwardly from said plate to abut against opposite sides of the rail web therebetween, and lug means inserted through aperture means in said plate in said concrete pillar on opposite sides of the rail web, said lug means being hooked under said plate and abutting the rail web, and set screw means for tightening said lug means against the rail web.

2. The track structure of claim 1, said set screw extending through said lug means onto the rail web.

3. The track structure of claim 1, said set screw extending through said lug means onto said plate.

4. The track structure of claim 1, said concrete embedded plate depending means comprising a pair of downwardly struck fingers in said plate.

5. A track structure comprising rail supports, each rail support consisting of a pillar of concrete formed in situ in a suitably positioned hole in the track roadbed, a rail supporting plate placed on the concrete pillar before the concrete has solidified, said plate having depending means embedded in said concrete pillar, spaced apart rail stop means extending upwardly from said plate to abut against opposite sides of the rail web therebetween, and lug means inserted through aperture means in said plate in said concrete pillar on opposite sides of the rail web, said lug means being hooked under said plate and abutting the rail web, set screw means for tightening said lug means against the rail web, said concrete embedded plate depending means comprising a pair of downwardly struck fingers in said plate, said pair of struck fingers extending outwardly from the center of said plate and then struck downwardly providing slots through which said lug means are hooked under said plate.

6. The track structure of claim 5, said embedded fingers being ribbed.

7. The track structure of claim 5, and a ribbed spike extending through an aperture between said fingers and embedded in said concrete pillar.

8. In a track structure, a rail, a rail supporting plate, a pair of rail web abutting bosses extending upwardly from said plate for locking the rail placed therebetween, said plate having aperture means extending transversely to underlie the rail web placed between said bosses, and hook lug means extending through said rail plate aperture means to hook thereunder and abut the top of the rail web.

9. The rail supporting plate of claim 8, and a second pair of rail web abutting bosses.

10. The rail supporting plate of claim 9, said plate having aperture means extending transversely to underlie the rail web placed between said bosses, said plate aperture means being located between said two pairs of bosses, and hook lug means extending through said rail plate aperture means to hook thereunder and abut the top of the rail web.

11. In a track structure, a rail, a rail supporting plate, a pair of rail web abutting bosses extending upwardly from said plate for locking the rail placed therebetween, and a second pair of rail web abutting bosses, said plate having aperture means extending transversely to underlie the rail web placed between said bosses, said plate aperture means being located between said two pairs of bosses,

and hook lug means extending through said rail plate aperture means to hook thereunder and abut the top of the rail web, said aperture means being provided by fingers extending outwardly from the mid area and struck downwardly and ribbed.

12. The rail supporting plate of claim 11, said aperture means comprising a slot extending completely under and somewhat beyond the rail web thereon.

13. In a track structure, a rail, a rail supporting plate, a pair of rail web abutting bosses extending upwardly from said plate for locking the rail placed therebetween, and a second pair of rail web abutting bosses, said plate having aperture means extending transversely to underlie the rail web placed between said bosses, said plate aperture means being located between said two pairs of bosses, and hook lug means extending through said rail plate aperture means to hook thereunder and abut the top of the rail web, said aperture means comprising a slot extending completely under and somewhat beyond the rail web thereon, said rail plate being rectangular and having References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,353,843 9/1920 Ochs 23884 1,863,248 6/1932 McGrew 238304 2,044,700 6/ 1936 Jones 28751 2,208,358 7/1940 Chandler 288-49 2,743,657 5/1956 Kriegbaum 3061.5 3,062,450 11/1962 Hanff 238-265 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner.

R. A. BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A TRACK STRUCTURE COMPRISING RAIL SUPPORTS, EACH RAIL SUPPORT CONSISTING OF A PILLAR CONCRETE FORMED IN SITU IN A SUITABLY POSITIONED HOLE IN THE TRACK ROADBED, THE GREATEST DIMENSIONS OF THE PILLAR BEING ITS DEPTH, A RAIL SUPPORTING PLATE PLACED ON THE CONCRETE PILLAR BEFORE THE CONCRETE HAS SOLIDIFIED, SAID PLATE HAVING DEPENDING MEANS EMBEDDED IN SAID CONCRETE, PILLAR, SPACED APART RAIL STOP MEANS EXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM SAID PLATE TO ABUT AGAINST OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE RAIL WEB THEREBETWEEN, AND LUG MEANS INSERTED THROUGH APERTURE MEANS IN SAID PLATE IN SAID CONCRETE PILLAR ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE RAIL WEB, SAID LUG MEANS BEING HOOKED UNDER SAID PLATE AND ABUTTING THE RAIL WEB, AND SET SCREW MEANS FOR TIGHTENING SAID LUG MEANS AGAINST THE RAIL WEB. 